McConnell: Trump's Supreme Court picks 'should be considered fairly'

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has announced he will retire on July 31. Kennedy, who has been on the bench since 1988, was often considered the swing vote in a number of major cases.
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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walk to the chamber after collaborating on an agreement in the Senate on a two-year, almost $400 billion budget deal that would provide Pentagon and domestic programs with huge spending increases, at the Capitol on Feb. 7, 2018.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell lashed out at Democrats on Thursday for decrying President Trump's shortlist of Supreme Court candidates, saying they should considered.

McConnell, however, blocked former President Barack Obama's nominee from being confirmed after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

With Wednesday's announcement of Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement, the liberal bloc of justices on the Supreme Court are left virtually powerless.

"This is not 2016," McConnell said in a statement. "These aren’t the final months of a second-term, constitutionally lame-duck presidency with a presidential election fast approaching. We are right in the middle of this president’s first term."

McConnell also took aim at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, for rallying against McConnell's announcement that the Senate would confirm a nominee before the November election.

"The ink wasn’t even dry on Justice Kennedy’s resignation letter before my friend the Democratic Leader seemed to echo that, right here on the floor — that none of the exceptional legal minds on this list would be tolerable to him," McConnell said.

Rep. John Yarmuth, a Louisville Democrat, took to Twitter to slam GOP leaders for what he called a clear double-standard.

For Trump, McConnell, Ryan and others, hypocrisy is not a problem, it’s a principle. It’s not a sin, it’s a strategy.

"For Trump, McConnell, Ryan and others, hypocrisy is not a problem, it’s a principle. It’s not a sin, it’s a strategy," Yarmuth tweeted.

Some of the biggest Supreme Court decisions in 2018 almost certainly would have gone the other way if McConnell had not strung out Obama's final nomination, Merrick Garland, until his term expired, allowing Trump to nominate Neil Gorsuch instead.

With the appointment of Gorsuch, 50, the youngest Supreme Court nominee since Clarence Thomas in 1991, McConnell has delivered critical 5-4 decisions to Trump and conservatives.

Chris Rowzee, the director of operations for Indivisible Kentucky, an organization that fights for minority voices and democratic values, said she has seen the impact firsthand.

"McConnell essentially withheld Obama's constitutional right to appoint a Supreme Court justice," Rowzee said. "We are concerned for all the minority voices, the people's voices. Just look at the recent decisions with the travel ban and gerrymandering. Those would have been vastly different."

McConnell on Thursday defended his plan to appoint a nominee.

"This is not 2016," McConnell said in a statement. "These aren’t the final months of a second-term, constitutionally lame-duck presidency with a presidential election fast approaching. We are right in the middle of this president’s first term."

Reach Reporter Thomas Novelly at 502-582-4465 or by email at tnovelly@courier-journal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomNovelly.